Category: The Final Word

Tony Stewart. Bam! Ryan Newman. Pow! Brad Keselowski. Biff! Denny Hamlin. Ouch! Dale Earnhardt Jr. Sock, Ooof! No doubt these boys are thanking the Lord Dover is over, but at least two or three have to be wondering if their title hopes might also be done like dinner.

[media-credit id=26 align=”alignright” width=”242″][/media-credit]Stewart and Newman had cars that were so ill handling that they turned out just as fine as David Stremme’s vibrating piece of machinery. Newman can complain to the boss about having to drive crap, but who does Tony go to? Maybe the mirror. In short, the pair were back there fighting it out a couple laps down with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Junior, Junior, Junior. Just when you think he has started to get it back together, a part breaks early and then somebody allows him to leave the pits with a loose wheel. Thanks for nothing, chums. It was a good thing AAA was sponsoring this thing.

Keselowski found himself driving without assistance when the power steering belt got knocked askew. The time it took to fix the problem ended his hopes for last Sunday. So, while Tony is now 9 back, Brad is 14 away, Earnhardt has faded to 34 and Newman to 41 off the pace, things could be worse.

That brings us to Hamlin. The good news is that he has been consistent. The bad news is that 18th at Dover was the best of the lot thus far in the Chase. Hamlin does have a better chance of taking it all than, say, my grandmother, but Viola Schulz was 93 when she passed away three years ago.

No, Dover would go to the King of Bitching, Kurt Busch, who for once had nothing but laudable things to say about his crew chief, crewmen, and that attractive blonde who gave him a hug in Victory Lane. Okay, I have good things to say about her, but that does not take away from the spirit of what I’m trying to say here. Jimmie Johnson ran second, Carl Edwards third, and tenth was good enough for Kevin Harvick.

Happy and Cousin Carl are tied on top of the heap, with Kurt and Tony nine back, and Jimmie just 14 in arrears. In fact, just 19 points separates the ninth place Jeff Gordon from the duo in first, so for most it still is a tight race.

Kansas should bring interesting news, including some regarding Clint Bowyer, who is expected to be named as Michael Waltrip’s latest employee. Of the eleven races held at this speedway, only four were won by those not currently in the Chase, two of those by Greg Biffle. Keselowski won there in June, Stewart and Gordon each have a pair, while Newman and Johnson also know where Victory Lane is. Victory would come in handy for someone’s Chase hopes, and for three it could mean the difference between Chasing and just plain racing. Enjoy the week!

In watching NASCAR we tend to learn stuff. For example, after being winless the entire season Tony Stewart taught us that one can open the Chase with two straight victories after he claimed the prize again at Loudon, New Hampshire.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”247″][/media-credit]It helps when one is surrounded by those who can contribute to making such good things happen. Tony recently jettisoned some deadwood to help things along, though he did not go into detail when pressed by the press.

Stewart leads Kevin Harvick by seven points, 11 up on Sunday’s runner-up Brad Keselowski, and fourteen ahead of Carl Edwards. Everyone else is more than 20 points away, including Jimmie Johnson, who is 29 off the pace.

By the way, Deadwood is a city in South Dakota best known for being the resting place of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. No Cup drivers hail from Deadwood.

A good day can go terribly bad, as both Hickok and Dale Earnhardt Jr can attest. Tire problems killed what had been a good day for Junior. He is 26 points behind Stewart, tied with Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch. They are three back of Jeff Gordon, and one ahead of Johnson.

Still there are a lot of miles yet to travel before this is done. It is also darn near a thousand miles between Columbus, Indiana, the hometown of Tony Stewart, and Deadwood. Deadwood is usually cooler, but not this week.

Denny Hamlin is not hot. In fact, even if Hamlin dominates and wins this weekend at Dover while the other Chasers stayed home, he would remain at least 18 points out of top spot.

A top modified driver is Jessica Zemken, a 25-year old blonde out of New York state who has stated that her favorite track is Eldora Raceway in Ohio. It is the track owned by Tony Stewart. To the best of my knowledge, she has never raced in Deadwood.

This spring, Matt Kenseth won at Dover. Kyle Busch won the year before, while Johnson has won three of the past five events run there. In fact, he has claimed six on the Monster Mile since 2002. Tony Stewart last won up in Delaware when he swept the two races in 2000.

There are people who look hot, and there are those who say things when they are hot. It was hot when we visited Deadwood in 2009, and even hotter when we were at the Custer Battlefield in Montana. As my boys did not have a real appreciation for either locale, no doubt due to having not watched Little Big Man, I’m glad Vince Welch did not stick a microphone in their faces to ask them what they thought. They might have said something inappropriate.

Deadwood is 50 miles from Mount Rushmore, but the sculpture on the minds of Cup drivers this week is the one handed out at the Monster Mile in Dover. If there was a track on which Johnson might rebound to challenge for his sixth straight title, it would be there. Failing that, the crown could be bound for one who has worn it twice before. I wonder what he would have to say about that. Enjoy the week!

Do you know what a good crew chief is? He is the guy who tells his driver/boss that they are good to go in the fuel department, and is right. That does not necessarily mean that those who are wrong are bad, but maybe Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth can enlighten us on the subject after what went down in Chicago on Monday.

[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”273″][/media-credit]It might have been for just the first time this season, but for Tony Stewart Monday marked his 40th career Cup victory. The win moved him to within seven points of Chicago runner-up Kevin Harvick atop the rejigged standings, standings that actually matter as we are down to the final nine races of the season. Still, it is a bit early to get overly excited just yet with eleven drivers still within 25 points of the top dog.

That guy 25 points back would be Jeff Gordon. They worked on his car, got it just right at the end, but then a funny thing happened to the engine. It started to sputter due to lack of fuel, yet he still managed to speed coming into the pits. I wish my car would run out of gas and still allow me to speed to the gas station. Gordon might have been better off just to let it die out there, as he lost a lap due to the infraction to wind up, ironically enough, 24th.

Matt Kenseth finished 8th, but while getting a push from your friends is alright most of the time when you find yourself sitting in a fancy go-cart, it can’t be done on the last lap. So, take that 8th place finish and shove it to the head of those a lap down, and you wind up in 21st. At least he sits a big point ahead of Gordon in the Chase.

That might not sound like a big deal to you, but Denny Hamlin would swap places with Kenseth in a second. Hamlin sits 16 points behind Mr. Gordon, 41 points off the pace after one event. I had heard that he went into the Chase liking his underdog role. He must love it today, as tire woes left him 31st on Monday, leaving him more like a ran over dog. Rain might have delayed the action a day in Chicago, but Hamlin had his own personal storm on Monday to put a beat down on his championship hopes.

Dale Earnhardt Jr wound up third, with Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, and Jimmie Johnson all with Top Tens. They sit between ten and 16 points back as they motor on to New Hampshire. Newman won there this summer to become one of four Chase drivers who have won three times at the track, with eight of those drivers having won at least once there. In fact, only Edwards, Earnhardt, Kenseth, and Keselowski have not. Now might be  a good time to change that. Enjoy the week!

So, you think that with the way things turned out at Richmond we had a race that was a total waste of time? Oh no, my friend. I mean, with Kevin Harvick managing to keep Carl Edwards behind him as they came to the line, Happy got his fourth win of the season. He is now tied with Kyle Busch atop the Chase standings with 2012 big points. See, it meant something.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]It allowed Jimmie Johnson to retaliate for the accidental bump he got from Kurt Busch to get into the little fella’s head. Kurt went ape on a reporter after he simply asked if this feud could hurt both their chances, then denied to another about saying something he had said earlier, then tearing up the transcript that proved the former champ was wrong in his assumption. Yet, Busch claims that it is he, King Kurt, who has somehow gotten into Johnson’s head. Something tells me the boy could be wrong about that, too.

If not for Saturday night’s broadcast, look at all the bent metal we would have missed. We would have not seen why Brian Vickers got so upset with Marcos Ambrose, and why NASCAR sat Vickers down for a time out in the middle of the race. We would have been left wondering how Junior can be involved in three incidents, get down a couple of laps, be riding around 29th at one point, and still finish 16th.

It was a good thing Earnhardt was out there, beating and banging. I mean, if not for that, his boys would have had to take a sledgehammer to that auto of his in order to create the same work of modern art. Junior was minding his own business when he ran into a sideways Clint Bowyer. Of course, this was immediately after he had ran into a braking Matt Kenseth. A little later, he noticed that Ambrose was not being bothered by Vickers, so he bothered him. He later got a bump from Travis Kvapil, and not long after he returned the favor by putting that fella right into the fence. Nothing but good times.

So, Junior fell to tenth in the pre-Chase standings, but he and the rest who had a position a week ago have one as they head to Chicago. Only a dozen drivers really hold our interest as we head towards autumn, though there are others who will be looking to either find a job, or keep the one they got. Harvick and Shrub may lead the parade heading to the Windy City, but a finish outside the Top Twenty on Sunday would change that in a hurry.

Chicago, a track where they have raced ten times, where Harvick won the first two, Stewart also has a pair, with Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Junior, and Kyle Busch each with one win to their credit. It is where Carl Edwards was the 2010 runner-up, but nobody who has won there also went on to claim the Cup championship that season. Mark Martin won in 2009, but finished second behind some guy named Johnson in points. So, am I saying Chicago will prove to be just a big waste of time? Something tells me that won’t be the case. Enjoy the week.

For a long weekend also long on rain, things have cleared up enough to provide a clearer picture as to the Chase for the Championship. After the action concluded on Tuesday afternoon in Atlanta, nine are locked in, three are holding on, yet there are up to seven others who could yet move out of the wilderness and into a wildcard position with a win and a little help.

[media-credit name=”Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Jeff Gordon helped himself to another 3 Chase bonus points and he and Jimmie Johnson put on a show at the end Tuesday. Gordon held his team-mate off for the 85th win of his career and now sits third alone on the all-time list. Also locked in and in line for a run at the season crown are Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, and both Busch brothers. With his three wins this season, you can add Brad Keselowski to that list with a guaranteed wildcard. That is, if he needs it.

Dale Earnhardt Jr and Tony Stewart are win less, yet hold down the final two spots in the Chase, while Denny Hamlin has a win and, sitting 12th, has the other wildcard invite in his hand. Keselowski is the guy who can stir things up by doing well at Richmond, making up the 23 points he needs to catch Stewart, or the 25 he is behind Junior, and claiming 9th or 10th in the standings. It would give the young man the bonus points for his pre-Chase wins, and make one of the winless veterans vulnerable.

In fact, without a win one really has no chance of making the Chase if outside the security of the Top 10. Denny Hamlin has a win but if Paul Menard wins his second of the season at Richmond he would take that wildcard spot away. If Marcos Ambrose or David Ragan wins a second race, and make up the ten positions on Menard to move into the Top 20, they also could take the spot away from Hamlin. However, if either Earnhardt or Stewart is out and Keselowski in by points, then Hamlin would retain his wildcard invite with the other going to whoever else has a win and sits in the Top 20. At the moment, that would be Menard, but Ambrose and Ragan still have a shot.

If that is not enough, Hamlin can also be caught on points. If A.J. Allmendinger (11 points behind Hamlin), Bowyer (12), Greg Biffle (28), or Martin Truex Jr (33) can win at Richmond on Sunday and move ahead of Hamlin in points, they would be in and he would be out. That is, as long as Keselowski doesn’t replace either Earnhardt or Stewart in the Top 10, in which case Hamlin would still make it.

Of course, if Keselowski fails to make up the 23 to 25 points needed to catch Earnhardt or Stewart, and if Richmond is not won by Menard, Ambrose, Ragan, Allmendinger, Bowyer, Biffle, or Truex, then the top dozen have already been decided. I told you we had a clearer picture of things. Enjoy your week.

Life is just grand. What could go wrong? We had Saturday night racing at Bristol, which should about compensate for those little irks I tolerate the rest of the week. Sure, I might have turned 55 a month ago, I’m as bald as a certain country’s national symbol, I have the inseam of a dwarf, blood sugar like a Slurpee, my brain exploded about 18 months ago, and I refer to Santa as that skinny old bearded fart. I mean, what more could I possibly have to complain about? Then I watched ESPN’s coverage from Bristol.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]What in hell was that? Okay, I thought Allan Bestwick did a fine job, showed some enthusiasm, but as the moderator he is supposed to be the guy who keeps it all together. He is not supposed to be the most entertaining dude on the show. They might not be the most dynamic duo ever, but usually I can stand Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Not on Saturday night. Both were as exciting as funeral commentary delivered from my couch, little enthusiasm, unpolished, and adding nothing to what I was already seeing with my own eyes. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, some twit handed a microphone to Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. Funny how the audio can simply disappear from my television faster than the last crumbs of potato salad and cabbage rolls at a Thornton family dinner.

Bristol, on a Saturday night, and I started to ponder surfing the channels for a soccer match. Bristol! It takes some special kind of outfit to manage to screw that up, but ESPN did the impossible. However, we can fix this, at least if one isn’t really trying to kill NASCAR and drive all the fans at home away. First, take Dave Burns off pit row and place him alongside Bestwick. The guy always seems excited to be there, with a sense of urgency that I can feel at home. We need to hear more of that. Next, I would send Jarrett and Petree back down to the pits where they have expertise, then hire Wally Dallenbach to join the crew upstairs. He might not have been the most successful driver, but he can talk, inform, and entertain in a fashion that keeps me watching. Lord, do they ever need more of that. Oh, in order to ensure things don’t get screwed up, I would send Rusty and Brad somewhere, anywhere, as long as I don’t hear them during the course of the broadcast.

Bristol was not a total loss. The final 80 laps of 500 had some entertainment value, enough to almost compensate for the brutal coverage. Brad Keselowski kept ahead of Martin Truex Jr and Jeff Gordon to pretty much guarantee himself a spot in the Chase. Matt Kenseth looked good, but while Tony Stewart had a day from hell (and he wasn’t even watching ESPN) Clint Bowyer was just as bad and did not make up any ground in his hopes for a place in the Chase.

They try again this Sunday in Atlanta, where 23 drivers still maintain some hope in making the cut. The top eight are locked in, including the Busch boys, Jimmie Johnson, Kenseth, Gordon, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, and Ryan Newman. Only the worst kind of luck would keep Keselowski out of it. Dale Earnhardt Jr has a 39 point lead with two to go. Defending Atlanta winner Stewart has a 21 point margin, but up to eleven others can still beat out Denny Hamlin for that final wildcard spot through either points, wins, or a combination of both. I mention this as ESPN didn’t even bother putting up the updated standings during their wrap up. Again, thanks for nothing.

So, while Hamlin will have his hands full on Sunday trying to save his season, it could have been worse. Instead of racing for his life, he could have been stuck with the rest of us watching the broadcast on ESPN.

Maybe the greatest legacy Dale Earnhardt left behind for those who followed him were the safety measures taken following the icon’s death a decade ago. After watching the rain delayed action at Watkins Glen on Monday morning, maybe two or three drivers remain with us because of the features since found in those cars. It sure in heck wasn’t about safety barriers this time.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”218″][/media-credit]Kurt Busch went sailing into the corner when a tire let go, and he found himself plowing into the tire cushioned wall. His day, at least his car’s day, was done but Busch wasn’t. A short time later, Denny Hamlin suffered the same problem and the same fate. If anything, Hamlin’s experience hit even harder as the fender met the fence at a spot where it had a concrete support behind it.

On the final lap, David Ragan got a nudge from Boris Said and he met the wall, 100% unprotected concrete, and glanced off it on the driver’s side to smack into the barrier on the other side of the track. In doing so, he clipped David Reutimann who took it hard on his driver’s side before flipping into the air and across the track to nail the wall on the outside. Four cars, nothing but junk, but four drivers who will be ready to roll next week at Michigan.

Marcos Ambrose has been rolling on NASCAR tracks since 2006 when he arrived as a champion driver from New Zealand. He won three times in Nationwide events, but Monday’s Cup win on the road course marks a high water mark. It was his first win in the series, and a fourth Top Five this season to go with those at Las Vegas, Dover, and the road adventure at Sonoma. Ambrose remains a point out of the Top Twenty but, regardless, still would need another victory to have any chance at a Chase place.

With just Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta, and Richmond left before the twelve Chase positions are finalized, Brad Keselowski finished second. Those two wins still has him laying claim to the first wild card berth. Kyle Busch led most of the way until the final few laps and wound up third, tied with Carl Edwards for the points lead. Clint Bowyer was 11th at the Glen, remains 11th in the standings, winless and outside the Chase, with 25 points separating him and the man in tenth, Tony Stewart.

Denny Hamlin’s wreck left him 36th on Monday, 33 points out of the over-all Top Ten, with a 27 point lead over Paul Menard for the final wild card entry. That is good, as long as Bowyer does not win on Sunday at Michigan, or Menard or Ambrose, something none of them has yet done. Hamlin, on the other hand, has claimed the June race both this year and last. Things could be looking up for the Pied Piper. Enjoy the week!

The Final Word – Pocono was Fun, Fun, Fun for Keselowski as he decides to Do It Again
August 8, 2011

With a grandstand and trees
there’s a place called Pocono.
That’s where Brad wanted to go
and wound up winning it all.
An ankle in a cast,
some didn’t think he would ever last.
Maybe it was a labor of love,
as he drove that Dodge pretty fast,
Down in Pocono.

Gordon, Logano, oh they tried, we know.
The Busch boys and Jimmie, were also in a hurry.
Labonte, Montoya, wanted to get ya
Down in Pocono.
You drove very fast
Or the others were slow
Down in Pocono.

Hey, some folks get carried away, as Brad Keselowski was earlier in the week after he lost his brakes during a Road Atlanta test session that tested just how tough the young man was. With his second victory of the season, the limping lad with the busted ankle moved into the Top 20 and, for the moment, a place in the Chase. Denny Hamlin, who usually rules at Pocono, had some lug nuts fly off in the pits as they had to pick up the pieces, or nuts, to settle for 15th. At least they continue to hang on to that second wild card position as Paul Menard drops out. Meanwhile, those who were among the Top Ten remain so, at least for now.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”216″][/media-credit]Joey Logano could have won if the rains had come and stayed. Instead, after more than an hour cooling their heels and tires, the boys returned to the track to complete the event. While Keselowski beat out Kyle Busch, brother Kurt was beating and banging with Jimmie Johnson coming to the stripe to finish third and fourth respectively. Then they had a discussion as to who was an idiot. In a way, it was something of Hallmark moment, if the card read…

“Hey, BFF, Forever ended Saturday” or…
“Bang on the drum all day, but leave my damn car alone” or…
“Don’t come a knockin’ and cause my car to be a rockin’”

You can send a card to Carl Edwards, who is a happy man. So is Jack Roush and Ford as the soon to be 32-year old signed a new deal to stay just where he is for years to come.

In watching the 43 cars come and go, I was reminded that this season we have had 76 drivers make a Cup start in 55 cars, with another car that made an attempt. With all that talent and all those autos, there are only 30 entries that really have any hope each and every week, and that includes those driven by Trevor Bayne and Bobby Labonte. Yet, 41 drivers have more than $1 million in winnings in 2011. Mike Skinner hasn’t exactly been tearing up the track this year, but he probably has more money than you.

When it comes to wins, Tony Stewart is the man as they leave the tri-oval that thinks it is a road course to the real McCoy at Watkins Glen. Five times Stewart has won there over the past nine events, including in 2009, and he might think it is his turn again. 2010 winner Juan Pablo Montoya might disagree. In fact, he could be having some Good Vibrations himself. Okay, I’ll stop now. Enjoy your week.

There are times when everything just comes together. Sunday was one of those times, as ESPN began their portion of the season with the best broadcast of the year. They had a track that lent itself to a majestic visual display, cameras located in positions that presented the action in a most appealing and thrilling fashion, and a result that kept you watching to the final lap. In short, the Brickyard 400 was as good as it gets.

[media-credit name=”Brian Douglas” align=”alignright” width=”257″][/media-credit]Talent is good, but daddy’s money is pretty good, too. It gave Paul Menard a leg up in getting his racing career underway, but that did not come with any measure of respect from the fans. After Sunday’s victory, his first in Sprint Cup, on that particular track, the lad has finally arrived. Ham and eggers don’t win at Indianapolis, and now he sits in one of the wildcard positions for the Chase. Right at this moment, life is pretty darn good for Paul Menard.

Good finish to the event, thanks to a late charge by Jeff Gordon who picked his way through the field to wind up second. It was good to see both Regan Smith and Jamie McMurray right behind to provide each with a strong result. Dale Earnhardt Jr is now 10th in the standings, with a 19-point cushion over Denny Hamlin, who with a win looks very strong to wind up claiming that other wildcard spot.

Did anyone hear Rusty Wallace on Sunday? Me neither. 15 minutes away, and a day before, he was part of that horrid Nationwide broadcast from Lucas Oil Raceway. The venue and the announcers, along with camera location, can and do make a difference. As much as I like ole D.W. and the team of Petty and Dallenbach, I liked what I heard from Allen Bestwick, Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett. Now I’m trying to think of when the last time was I had anything good to say about the ESPN coverage. I think the answer is…never.

From Indianapolis the boys venture east to Pocono, a track that is a rounded corner triangle that I always believed was configured in a way that should provide more entertaining racing on television than it has. Maybe the good folks at ESPN have finally discovered how to present the action in a fashion that will remind us of what we saw this past weekend. It is a venue that has had nothing but A-list winners for more than a decade. It is a list that includes such names as Gordon, Biffle, Hamlin, Stewart, Edwards, and Johnson.

While Edwards, Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, and the Busch brothers look comfortable to make the Chase, there are others still digging to make sure they are there at the end. There are no shortage of story lines to follow, so there are plenty of reasons for hard core fans to be watching. The secret now is to present something on television that causes even the more pedestrian among us to stop and give it a look. Enjoy the week.

What excitement Kentucky brought us last Saturday night. Let me see if I have it right. Kurt led, then Kyle, Brad for a while, before Kyle did it in style as few can do for career Cup win #22. Oh, Jamie blew up, Junior came in for two when he needed at least three, and after a pair of late cautions, Reutimann, Johnson, Newman and Edwards came out of no where for Top Fives. That pretty much sums it up. Did I mention that the televised version was boring as hell?

[media-credit id=24 align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]Okay, so Bruton Smith, who owns pretty much everything the France family hasn’t already tied down, promises that Kentucky will soon become THE place to go to watch a NASCAR race. Maybe he is right. I heard him talk about how they needed to fix the terrible interstate feeding into the facility, how he planned another 150 acres for parking. Maybe somewhere in there he promised to bulldoze the place and start anew and I just missed it.

That isn’t to say that the 107,000 fans who took up the challenge to fight their way to the facility did not get their money’s worth. The televised version is nothing like the real deal. You might see some things better or closer up from the couch, but you not only hear the roar of the engines, you feel them when you are there, and there is nothing better than to watch it all under the lights. However, the best way to watch this from home was with the PVR, with all those commercials a lot easier on the conscience to flip by than the so-called action. Kentucky provided a race, not a broadcast spectacular. Heck, due to rain, it didn’t even give us a Waltrip as Michael’s qualifying run in that car saluting his Hall of Fame brother got washed out.

Daytona and Infineon gave us something to watch, If Loudon doesn’t do the same this weekend, I’m sure Indianapolis will in a couple of weeks. What Kentucky did was it moved Kyle Busch into a first place tie with Kevin Harvick, with 3 wins apiece, with Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon each with a pair. Thanks to his win at Daytona, David Ragan has one wild card spot, with Tony Stewart currently holding down the last one. Brad Keselowski has a win but remains three points shy of the 20th place spot that would give him that final place in the Chase. Once again you have proof that you don’t need exciting racing to provide interesting statistics.

I just would rather have both. Enjoy your week.